Robert M. Yohe

DNA from Pre-Clovis Human Coprolites in Oregon, North America

The timing of the first human migration into the Americas and its relation to the appearance of the Clovis technological complex in North America at about 11,000 to 10,800 radiocarbon years before the present (14C years B.P.) remains contentious. We establish that humans were present at Paisley 5 Mile Point Caves, in south-central Oregon, by 12,300 14C years B.P., through the recovery of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from coprolites, directly dated by accelerator mass spectrometry. The mtDNA corresponds to Native American founding haplogroups A2 and B2. The dates of the coprolites are >1000 14C years earlier than currently accepted dates for the Clovis complex.

Clovis Age Western Stemmed Projectile Points and Human Coprolites at the Paisley Caves

They Walked Together Paisley Cave in Oregon provides some of the earliest evidence for humans in North America. Jenkins et al. (p. 223) provide a wide variety of additional evidence of early human occupation of this site, including a series of radiocarbon ages extending back to nearly 12,500 radiocarbon years ago (about 14,500 calendar years ago). The find includes examples of projectile points representative of the Western Stemmed Tradition dating to about 11,100 radiocarbon years ago. The Western Stemmed Tradition has been thought to have evolved after the dominant Clovis technology, but the find suggests that the two cultures overlapped in time. The age of a Western Stemmed projectile point implies that this culture overlapped with the Clovis culture in North America. The Paisley Caves in Oregon record the oldest directly dated human remains (DNA) in the Western Hemisphere. More than 100 high-precision radiocarbon dates show that deposits containing artifacts and coprolites ranging in age from 12,450 to 2295 14C years ago are well stratified. Western Stemmed projectile points were recovered in deposits dated to 11,070 to 11,340 14C years ago, a time contemporaneous with or preceding the Clovis technology. There is no evidence of diagnostic Clovis technology at the site. These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution. “Blind testing” analysis of coprolites by an independent laboratory confirms the presence of human DNA in specimens of pre-Clovis age. The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups.

Archaeological applications of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy: an example from the Coso Volcanic Field, California, using advanced statistical signal processing analysis

Over the past quarter century, multielement chemical analysis has become a common means for attributing the provenance of archaeological materials. The Coso Volcanic Field (CVF) in California, USA, contains at least 38 high-silica rhyolite domes, many of which contain obsidian glass that has been quarried for tools by the indigenous population for more than 12,000 years. Artifacts made from CVF obsidian are found throughout the southwestern United States and geochemical sourcing of CVF obsidian has been an important tool in understanding prehistoric Native American trading patterns. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a simple atomic emission spectroscopic technique that has the potential for real-time man-portable chemical analysis in the field. Because LIBS is simultaneously sensitive to all elements, a single laser shot can be used to record the broadband emission spectra, which provides a “chemical fingerprint” of a material. Single-shot broadband LIBS spectra were collected using a commercial benchtop LIBS system for 27 obsidian samples from major sites across the CVF and four additional sites in California and western Nevada outside of CVF. Classification of the samples was performed using partial least-squares discriminant analysis (PLSDA), a common chemometric technique suitable for performing regression on high-dimensional data. Provenance identification for the obsidian samples was evaluated for three separate labeling frameworks. The first framework consisted of a binary classification problem to distinguish CVF samples from non-CVF samples. The second approach focused on the CVF samples with labels that corresponded to the eight separate Coso sites encompassed by the 27 samples. In the third analysis, non-CVF samples were excluded, and the remaining 27 CVF samples were labeled based on groupings defined from previous major and trace element chemical studies, which reduces the number of possible classes from eight to four. Different aspects of the classifier setup considered in this study include the training/testing routine (a 27-fold leave-one-sample-out setup versus a simple split of the data into separate sets for training and evaluation), the number of latent variables used in the regression model, and whether PLSDA operating on the entire broadband LIBS spectrum is superior to that using only a selected subset of LIBS emission lines. The results point to the robustness of the PLSDA technique and suggest that LIBS analysis combined with the appropriate statistical signal processing has the potential to be a useful tool for chemical analysis of archaeological artifacts and geological specimens.

Obsidian Use and Technological Change in Rose Valley: Conclusions Based on the Analysis of Debitage from Two Sites

Abstract A comprehensive obsidian analysis of two important archaeological sites (Rose Spring and Stahl) in eastern California shows a significant change in lithic reduction strategies of locally obtained obsidian approximately 5,000 years ago. The technological analysis of the debitage used to defined the two trajectories is summarized and the importame of the conclusions to our understanding of culture change trough observed shifts in lithic technology is discussed.

Great Basin Bighorn Ceremonialism: Reflections on a Possible Sheep Shrine at the Rose Spring Site (CA-INY-372), Rose Valley, Alta California

Abstract In the early 1990s, a bighorn ram skull cap with intact horn cores, set atop a stacked rock cairn, was discovered at the Rose Spring site (CA-INY-372), located on the edge of the Coso Range at the southwestern corner of the Great Basin. In this article, we describe the character of the discovery, date the feature, and posit its meaning and function. The feature is intriguing since it might represent a prehistoric manifestation associated with Coso Representational Rock Art. The context for understanding this discovery and other prehistoric bighorn features documented in the Desert West is explored. A review of ethnographic accounts, native oral tradition and cosmology, and bighorn figurative sculptures and rock art, help us explore the religious and ceremonial significance of this animal to the aboriginal people of the region.

Diversion Dam Cave (10-AA-99): A Paleoindian Site near Boise, Idaho

In this article we describe the results of excavation at the Diversion Dam Cave (10-AA-99) near Boise, Idaho, sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation. Although the site has been heavily impacted over the years by illegal digging and urban encroachment, the data from these excavations confirmed that some deposits are intact. Radiocarbon data suggest a Paleoindian occupation, prior to 9220 ± 100 RCYBP and as far back as approximately 12,000 RCYBP. No artifacts diagnostic of a specific cultural group were recovered, but the hearth features, hand polish on rocks, and river cobbles with pecking damage all point to human occupation. Faunal analysis suggests that small and medium mammals and fish were exploited, while botanical data suggest the use of both local and more distant resources as fuel. Although the cultural deposits were sparse, radiocarbon dates suggest occupation during the Paleoarchaic Period, a time frame with few examples in Idaho.

Recently Discovered Clovis Points in Indian Wells Valley on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Southeastern Alta California

Abstract During a recent archaeological survey on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake along the relict shorelines of Pleistocene Lake China, Epsilon Systems Solutions, Inc., discovered five Clovis points and a variety of other artifacts, as well as fragmentary and mostly unidentifiable fossilized large mammal remains. Most of these points are better preserved and less sandblasted than other Clovis specimens found within the Lake China Basin. This article provides a brief background to the Clovis Complex, a technological description of these projectile points, and the results of obsidian hydration and protein residue analyses.

A Technological Evaluation of the Flint Blade Core Reduction Sequence at Wadi El-Sheikh, Middle Egypt

Abstract During the summer of 2006, the authors had the opportunity to visit portions of the extensive flint quarries found associated with Wadi el-Sheikh near El-Minya, Middle Egypt. The subject of little formal study, these impressive quarries extend for several kilometers in the northern portion of the wadi and likely were used since prehistoric times. Initial evidence suggests that these quarries, where millions of flint blades and bifacial knives were produced, were at the height of their production activities during the Pharaonic periods. A cursory technological lithic analysis onsite has allowed for a preliminary interpretation of what appears to have been a common reduction sequence for the production of flint blade-cores used at the quarries. The current model for this flint reduction process is presented here.

Folsom Mammoth Hunters? The Terminal Pleistocene Assemblage from Owl Cave (10BV30), Wasden Site, Idaho

The 1960s and 1970s excavations at Owl Cave (10BV30) recovered mammoth bone and Folsom-like points from the same strata, suggesting evidence for a post-Clovis mammoth kill. However, a synthesis of the excavation data was never published, and the locality has since been purged from the roster of sites with human/extinct megafauna associations. Here, we present dates on bone from the oldest stratum, review provenience data, conduct a bone-surface modification study, and present the results of a protein-residue analysis. Our study fails to make the case for mammoth hunting by Folsom peoples. Although two of the point fragments tested positive for horse or elephant protein, recent AMS dates indicate that all of the mammoth remains predate Folsom, and horse remains are absent from the Owl Cave collection. Further, no unambiguously cultural surface modifications were identified on any of the mammoth remains. Given the available data, the Owl Cave deposits are most parsimoniously read as containing a Folsom-age occupation in a buried context, the first of its kind in the desert West, but one nonetheless part of a palimpsest of terminal Pleistocene materials. Durante excavaciones de Owl Cave (10BV30) en Idaho en las décadas de 1960 y 1970 fueron recuperados de los mismos estratos huesos de mamut y puntas de proyectil del estilo Folsom, sugiriendo que se tratara de un yacimiento matanza de mamuts de la era post-Clovis. Sin embargo, nunca se publicó una síntesis de los datos de la excavación y la localidad ha sido removida de la lista de sitios con evidencia de actividad humana asociada con megafauna extinta. Aquí presentamos el fechamiento de muestras de hueso del estrato más antiguo de la cueva, revisamos sus datos de procedencia, realizamos un estudio de la superficie de los huesos, y presentamos los resultados de un análisis de residuos proteicos. Nuestro estudio no logra comprobar la evidencia de cacería de mamut por la cultura Folsom. Aunque en dos de los fragmentos de proyectil se detectaron restos de proteína de caballo o elefante, fechados recientes por AMS indican que todos los restos de mamut preceden el yacimiento Folsom y no hay restos de caballo en la colección de Owl Cave. Además, no se identificó ninguna modificación de superficie de claro origen cultural en los restos de mamut. La interpretación más parsimoniosa de los datos disponibles es que los depósitos de Owl Cave contienen una ocupación de la época Folsom en un contexto enterrado, el primero de este tipo en el desierto del Oeste, pero que sin embargo es parte de un palimpsesto de materiales del Pleistoceno terminal.